Feb. 12 Niagara College report
The Niagara College Knights women’s volleyball team advanced to the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory (25-18, 25-19, 25-27 and 25-20) in a crossover playoff game versus the Centennial Colts.
“Big shout out to Natasha Desjardins for getting her head coaching debut and getting a playoff win. Full team effort from the ladies,” Niagara coach Steve Stone said. “That was such a complete game from everyone and I couldn’t be more proud of the ladies. We had some players really step up in the clutch due to injury and they were awesome. Big shout out to Taylor Lisabeth and Hannah Cowie for doing that for us. Now we turn our focus to the next game as we’re one step closer to the goal.”
Playing well for Niagara were: Montanna Taylor with 28 assists, 13 digs, 10 kills, three service aces and three blocks; Kyleigh Baxter with 10 kills, 12 digs, one block and an assist; and, Sam Cormier with 10 kills, five digs, two assists, two service aces and a block.
Lisabeth was named Niagara College’s Female Athlete of the Week after contributing 17 digs, a kill, one block and a service ace against Centennial.
Niagara plays at Loyalist (14-4 in regular season) Saturday. A win advances the Knights to the OCAA championships the following weekend.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s men’s volleyball team saw its season come to an end with a 3-1 crossover playoff game loss (19-25, 25-20, 22-25 and 22-25) to Algonquin.
“Today just wasn’t our day. Algonquin was prepared and ready to compete from the start,” head coach Steve Stone said. “We came out flat and never quite found our footing and got to the level of play we’re capable of. Never want to end the season with a loss but lots of lessons learned this year and also I’m still very proud of this group of guys. It was a fun group to coach and I know the youngsters are only going to get better. Thankful for our veterans who helped lead this group all season and competed until the very end.”
Topping the stat sheet for Niagara were: Matthew Takacs with 15 kills, four digs, three blocks and a service ace; Elijah Bugiardini with nine kills and five digs; and, Tyler Carmichael with seven kills.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
On a night it honoured graduating seniors Molly Taylor, Taryn Mitchell and Emma Fraser, the Knights women’s basketball team (12-4) closed out its regular season on a winning note recording a 59-54 triumph over the visiting Sheridan Bruins (0-16).
“I’m very proud of our seniors. It has been an incredible career for the three of them,” Niagara head coach Chris Rao said.
He wasn’t as proud of his team’s play against Sheridan.
“It was not our best performance. We need to be better but as a whole. I would say this was a successful regular season. We’ve built and continued to grow throughout the year. We’ve set ourselves up for a home playoff game and that was one of our goals. Now we need to settle in and get ready for a playoff push.”
Leading the way for Niagara in the win were: Mitchell with 19 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots; Destiny Osadebamwen with 16 points and seven rebounds; Lexxus Bell with seven points and nine rebounds; Taylor with six points, 10 rebounds and five blocks; and, Kate Roth with five points and six rebounds.
Niagara hosts St. Lawrence Saturday at 1 p.m. in a crossover game that will see the winner advance to the OCAA quarter-finals.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Niagara men’s basketball team (11-7) concluded the regular season with a 83-82 home loss to the Sheridan Bruins (10-8).
“Thought we played well enough to pull out a victory. We needed to put Sheridan away and we didn’t and that came back to hurt us in the end,” Niagara head coach Phil Mosley said. “Our guys will definitely learn from this and now get ready for our first crossover playoff game.
Top performers for Niagara were: Raheem Dennis with 18 points and five rebounds; Reggie Williams with 12 points, five rebounds and six assists; Mark Taylor with 10 points and six rebounds; Riley Bleich with 10 points; Kenneth Reckley Jr. with nine points and 11 rebounds; and, Ethan Alino-DelaCruz with eight points, eight rebounds and five assists.
For his play, Taylor was named Niagara College’s Male Athlete of the Week
Prior to the game, Niagara honoured graduating seniors Bleich, Nikola Hrnjez, Dennis, Reckley Jr, Khayden Stewart, and Taylor.
Niagara hosts Seneca Saturday at 3 p.m. in a crossover game that will see the winner advance to the OCAA quarter-finals.
